Door-wedging mechanism.



T. BLIXT & E. E. FROZETH..

DOOR WEDGING MECHANISNI..

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24. 1917.

Patented Jan. 1, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

no Z T. BLIXT & E. E. FROZETH.

' DOOR WEDGING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 24. 1917.

Patented Jan-1,1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

para

TERRY- BLIXT AND ERNST EMIL FROZETH, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA; SAID BLIXT ASSIGNOR TO NILS EDGAR FROZETH, 0F CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

DOOR-WEDGING- MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan.. il, 1918..

Application led Apri124, 1917. Serial No. 164,272.

To all whom may concern:

Be it known that we, TERRY BLiXT and ERNST EMIL FRozETH, citizens of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Door-Wedging Mechanisms; and we do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in door wedging mechanisms and has for its primary object the provision of a device of this character adapted for use in connection with marine safes and the like employing a locking mechanism similar to that used on safety vaults.

Another object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which will wedge the door against the edge of the door opening and prevent leakage of water therebetween.

A still further object is to provide a device of thischaracter with which the door may be wedged to any desired extent and means for holding it against loosening.

With these and numerous other objects in view, our invention resides in the novel features of construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as illustrated in the drawings and more particularly pointed out in the specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a front elevation of a portion of a safety vault showing the limproved wedging mechanism in section;

Fig. 2 is a vertical transverse section on. the plane of the line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and,

Fig. 3 is a horizontal section on the plane of the line 3-3of Fig. 1. A

Similar numerals of reference .are employed to indicate like parts throughout the several views.A

Reference is now had to the drawings in which a vault or marine safe 1 is shown having its walls formed from parallel spaced inner, outer and intermediate metal plates 2, 3 and 4 respectively 'held together in spaced relation by any suitable means and adapted to receive therebetween a buoyant fire proof filler 5 of asbestos or the like.

One wall of the vault is provided with a door opening 6 whose edge is constructed .30 and additional rollers 30.

in the form of a casting 7 having steps 8 which are provided with undercut grooves 9 for the reception of packing strips 10 whose purpose will be hereinafter set forth. This casting 7 may be retained in said opening in any preferred manner and is provided with a plurality of vertically spaced sockets 11 in which the outer ends of the sliding bolts 12 of a combination lock 13 mounted on the door 14 are adapted to be received to prevent opening by unauthorized persons.

The edge of the door 14 is constructed in the form of a casting 15 having steps 16 and undercut grooves 17 in said steps for the reception of packing strips 18 adapted to contact the packing strips on the other steps when the door is in closed position.

The free edge of the door 14 is provided with a` plurality of tapered or wedge shaped sockets 19 for a purpose to be hereinafter set forth.

Adjacent the free edge of the door, in the wall of the vault between the outer and intermediate -plates 3 and 4 is a chamber 20 comprising upper and lower plates 21 and end plates 22, said chamber being adapted for the reception of a mechanism for operating wedging bolts 23 which'project through alined apertures 24 in the door frame casting 7 and the adjacent end wall of said chamber. The outer ends of the wedging bolts 23 are wedge shaped or tapered and are adapted to be forced into engagement with the inclined -walls of wedge shaped sockets 19 in the free edge of the door14.

The operating mechanismin the aforesaid chamber comprises a pair of u-pper and lower spindles 26 rotatably mounted therein and having pinions 27 keyed thereon and having their teeth mesh with rack teeth 28 on the lower 'edge of the wedging bolts 23, said teeth being of substantially one-half the width of said edge whereby a smooth portion 29 is left to contact the anti-friction rollers 30 `which also serve as guides and supports for the bolts.

A vertically reciprocable rack bar 31 is mounted in said chamber and has its teeth held in engagement with the upper and lower pinions 27 by the anti-friction rollers The vertical rack bar 31 is operated by means of a main driving pinion 32 keyed to a spindle 33, one end of which projectsoutwardly through an aperture in the Outer plate 3 of the wall and which is threaded to receive an operating wheel 34, and the other end of said spindle projecting through the intermediate plate d and threaded to receive a .nut or the like.

Between the hub of the wheel3-l and the opening or aperture in the plate 3, a bearing plate is secured to said wall plate and has inner and outer sockets 36 connected by an aperture through which the spindle 33 projects, said sockets being adapted to receive a suitable packing to :form an airtight connection.

After the wedge bolts have been Jforced into the sockets in the edge of the door, they are held against retraction by locking the operating wheel against rotation. any suitable means may be employed for locking the wheels against rotation, but the means herein employed comprises a substantially llshaped bracket 37 between the parallel arms ot which the wheel rim is disposed, said arms and wheel rim being provided with alined apertures through which a locking pin 38 is adapted be extended, said pin being secured to the'wall of the vault by a chain and eye screw or the like.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the construction and operation of our improved door wedging mechanism will be readily understood, but it is to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims, numerous changesk may be made without sacriicing the principal advantage l. rl`he combination with a 1loatable vault having a door opening in one wall, said opening having stepped edges, packing strips on said steps, a door mounted in said opening, and having steps on the edge thereot, packing strips on Jthe stepsto contact with those on the edge of the opening, a lock on the door to prevent opening thereof by unauthorized persons, a door wedging mech- Leonesa anism including a pair of vertically spaced horizontal reciprocable bolts mounted in the wall adjacent the tree edge of the door and having their outer ends wedge-shaped for reception in sockets in said edge, rack teeth on the lower edges of said bolts, pinions engaging said teeth, a vertically reciprocable rack for engaging said pinions, a horizontally disposed spindle rotatably mounted between said bolts, a main driving pinion on said spindle for engagement with the vertical rack bar, an operating wheel keyed to the outer end of said spindle, said wheel having its rim inturned and disposed adjacent the wall of the vault, and means engaging said rim whereby when the wedge-shaped ends of the bolts have been forced into the sockets, the wheel is held against rotation.

2. A vault having a door opening, a door `for said opening, a loclr for said door, a wedging mechanism tor said door including reciprocable bolts, a horizontal operating shaft disposed between said bolts and eX tending through the outer walls of said vault, an operating wheel on the outer end of said shaft, said wheel having an inturned annular rim, said rim being provided with a series of radial apertures, a til-shaped bracket secured to the outer face of said vault and adapted to receive said rims between its arms, said arms having a pair of vertically alined-apertures therein, and a pin to be received in said vertically alined apertures and one of said radial apertures to lock the operating wheel against movement.

'ln testimony whereoi1 we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BLlX'l. ERNST Ell/HL FRUZETH.

lllitnesses:

la. hermanas, R. l-l. Giesen. 

